Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-09-01
the Iron Fields of Missouri.

About two weeks ago syndicate o
Eastern capitalists purchased the Yer
million iron range in Northern Mime
sofa. The price paid was abou
$4,000. 900. Considering the value o.
| the property acquired the price is ex.
cetdingly small. The Vermillion iron
fields are among the richest ard most
| extensive ever discovered anywhere in
the world. Development of the iron
deposits of that region was the sole in.
| centive to the purchase. speculation, in
| the ordinary sense, not entering into
the scheme. There is not the slightest
doubt that the enterprise will prove
immensely profitable.
Missouri, however, is far richer in
iron deposits than Minnesota. There
are iron fields in this state from which
ore can he obtained that is at least as
pure and valuable as any found in the
Vermillion range, and which far sur
passes that region in area. Iron is
found in some form in nearly every
county in Missouri. Bog ores are OBJ
tanned in the counties in the southeast
portion of the State, and limonite, or
brown hematite, in all the counties
along the southern boundary line. In
Adair and some of the adjoining coun-
ties another variety of brown hematite,
called goethite, has been discovered in
large quantities. The brown hematite,
taking al! its varieties together, is found
in ninety-fodr of the ia counties of the
State. In thirty-one of these it exists
in immense deposits, but in all Of them
it is found in paying quantities. The
richest exposures of brown hematite
are in the southeastern portion of the
State, principally i'm the Counties of
Gpnoyioyo CT Modionn
Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Wayne,
Ripley, Carter. Washington, Shannon
and Stoddard.
Less extensive than the brown hem
attic deposits, but more valuable in
proportion to area, are the deposits of
specular iron ore. This ore has already
been found in twenty-five counties os
the State. Red hematite, one of its
leading varieties, is exceedingly abund-
ant i'm the regions where it is found.
The largest masses Of this iron are those
of Iron Mountain. Pilot Knob, Shep-
herd Mountain, Cedar Hill and Sim
mons Mountain. The fame of Iron
Mountain and Pilot Knob is almost
worldwide. Pilot Knob, which is a
conical hill, nearly circular, and about
a mile in diameter at the base and 600
feet high, is situated in Iron county.
IL 10 CoIupoScu CHieAy vi pOFpDyFy 80O
porphyry conglomerates, intermingled
with great beds of hard specular iron
ore. The lower orebed proper is about
46 feet thick, and is estimated to be
about 225,0O0 superficial yards in ex-
t.dt. Most of this ore is more or less
magneiized, as is large portion of that
obtained at Cedar Hill and Shepherd
Mountain also.
Iron Mountain, which Is in st. Fran
co.'s County, eighty miles south of st.
Louis, on the Iron Mountain Railroad,
is the largest exposure of iron ore found
anywhere in the world. 1t is also the
purest mass of iron ever discovered.
The mountain, which is about $50 feet
high above the valley, has a superficial
area of about 500 acres. At the summit
an immense mass of solid ore Is exposed,
and the porphyry, of which large
part of the mountain is composed, is
traversed in all directions by great
veins of iron. Like the ore Of Iron
all the ores obtained In that
region are of remarkable purity, nearly
free from sulphur, and containing but
a small proportion of phosphorus.
Every year the United State Imports
of dollars worth Of iron ,chteny,